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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Recipe Post: Kong Recipes

Do you own these dog toys and wonder what to stuff inside them? Kongs make a great training tool—from crate-training a new puppy or your newly adopted dog to keeping your dog busy when you are busy. Kongs are available at all major pet stores. Below is a list of my favourite Kong recipes, but the list of what you can stuff inside a Kong is virtually endless.

Healthy Treats for Weight-Watching Pooches

Line the inside with a thin line of peanut butter or honey (adult dogs only). You will be surprised at how long your dog will work at this simple treat.

Baby carrots are a super simple and quick treat. My dogs LOVE carrots—they love to crunch them up, and they come running whenever I get the bag out for myself.

Use a thin line of peanut butter or honey and stuff in some breakfast kibble. When we first got our puppy, he ate so quickly that I would divide his breakfast into multiple Kongs, which slowed him down considerably.

Alternatively, add dry kibble to the Kong and use a carrot or a cookie slightly larger than the opening to block the opening.

Moisten kibble and stuff it into the Kong and freeze it for a couple of hours.

My Favourite Treats

One of my dogs' favourite treats is a combination of wet/sticky food and dry. We use one mashed banana mixed with a small container of plain, unsweetened yogurt* and a teaspoon of melted peanut butter. First, put a piece of kibble or a small cookie into the Kong to plug the hole and then fill the Kong with the banana mixture. Freeze for a couple of hours and eat! A frozen Kong can last two to three times longer than one that isn't and makes a great treat for your pooch when you head out the door in the morning.

Our dogs love any Kong treat that starts with peanut butter—we often mix peanut butter, yogurt and pumpkin and stuff the mixture, similar to the technique above, and freeze.

Another favourite is a bit of peanut butter followed by some kibble, then a bit more peanut butter finished off with a cookie at the end.

As always, when feeding your dogs any human food, check to make sure that the food is safe for consumption by dogs first. Below is a list of foods that can be stuffed inside Kongs:

Apples

Applesauce

Bananas

Beef

Bread

Broccoli (raw)

Carrots

Chicken Broth (without onion)

Cheese

Cheerios

Clementines

Dried Fruit (Bananas, apples)

Eggs (cooked)

Orange slices

Honey

Peanut butter

Peaches

Yogurt

*Ensure that your yogurt is plain and unsweetened since artificial sweeteners can be deadly for dogs.